Kimberley Rew, guitarist for British 70’s art-rock band the Soft Boys and co-founder of Katrina and the Waves has a brand new ‘Best Of’ release compiling songs from his solo career that’s currently available via iTunes.
But today, he’s talking vinyl.
(And we’ve got an opportunity for one of you to win some RARE 7″ vinyl in a giveaway…)
“Kimberley Rew is where pop and archaeology meet: the six-string guardian of old England, rocking the neolithic pathways just as the glaciers did before him. I can’t remember a time before Kimberley, and I dread a world without him. Monster!” —Robyn Hitchcock
“The first record I bought was Duane Eddy’s Dance with the Guitar Man in 1962. Needless to say recorded music WAS vinyl then and nobody thought any more about it. My parents like most people had a record player (a bulky wooden cabinet in the living room which my sisters and I would fight over after school) and a couple of dozen records—included were a few shellac 78s from the 1950s—that was the last of anything that wasn’t vinyl for the next quarter century.
At school we got into bands such as John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers—albums became very cool, singles the opposite. New albums were passed around, revered, analysed for evidence of ‘progress.’ Suffice it say they were ruinously expensive—thirty two shillings in 1967, six weeks’ pocket money (allowance.)
Not undertaken lightly, a purchase would be treasured, sleeve notes memorised, including details like ‘laminated with Clarifoil.’ Mono or stereo were available—mono was uncool, but you were warned that your clunky radiogram needle could destroy a stereo record. Then college, then darkened rooms where someone would ‘skin up’ using an LP sleeve as a lap tray.
Finally I acquired money, pre-recorded cassettes, CDs. A music recording doesn’t have to be a physical object at all now of course. But that came too late for me—I look round the room at shelves of LPs, singles, cassettes (many are collections of copies of the one or two decent tracks off disappointing album purchases.) Upstairs are boxes of many more of all of the above by the Soft Boys, Katrina and the Waves, etc.
So my music career corresponded with the album era and I still can’t help writing it in 40 minute collections. That’s a legacy and a half. Happy vinylling!” —Kimberley Rew
“I have great memories of touring Europe in the 80’s with Katrina and the band. It was wonderful to see the love of her audience and how the band ignited them. I remember how powerful “Walking on Sunshine” was at that time so it’s not surprise it has remained a classic till this day.” —Mick Fleetwood, Fleetwood Mac
“I have been a fan of Kimberly Rew’s song writing for 25 years, and am dumbfounded by his guitar playing every time I see him play.” —Peter Buck, R.E.M.
The contest! | We’ve got an autographed copy of Kim’s 7″ above, “My Baby Does Her Hairdo Long” along with a mega-rare signed test pressing of the very first Katrina and the Waves’ single, “Que Te Quiero / Machine Gun Smith” from 1983 on Silvertown Records.
Enter to win by leaving a comment to this post in regard to Kimberley, the Soft Boys, or Katrina and the Waves and the most insightful or incisive or just damn compelling of the bunch (right, it’s scientific) will find the 7″s in his or her mailbox.
We’ll give you a week to conjure up your entry and close this one out next Wednesday, 12/8. Remember to leave us a contact email address so we can award your brilliance!
